Nissan Motor Co beat estimates to post a net profit of 30.8 billion yen (381 million dollars) for the quarter ending March 31 despite March's earthquake and tsunami, the Japanese carmaker said Thursday, DPA reported.
The positive results were due to strong sales in China, the United States and other overseas markets, the company said.
The partner of French manufacturer Renault SA said the figure was up from an 11.6-billion-yen loss a year earlier although the company suffered lost sales and production stoppages after the magnitude-9 quake and tsunami hit north-eastern Japan March 11.
Sale were up 10 per cent year-on-year to 2.35 trillion yen, the company said. The statement did not provide operating profits for the period.
The company said it was booking 39.6 billion yen as an extraordinary loss for the quarter because of the March disaster.
For the fiscal year, Nissan reported net profit of 319.2 billion yen, 7.5 times higher than the previous year. Operating profit was up 73 per cent to 537.5 billion yen although a strengthening yen put a 148-billion-yen dent in that figure, the company said.
Sales for the year were up 16.7 per cent to 8.77 trillion yen.
Like its rivals Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co, Nissan said it was unable at this stage to provide useful financial forecasts for the current fiscal year in the aftermath of the March disaster.
Toyota said Wednesday that its net profits were down 77 per cent in the fourth quarter to 25.4 billion yen while Honda's were down 38 per cent.
Toyota and Nissan are currently Japan's first- and second-largest carmakers. Nissan produces 25 per cent of its vehicles in Japan, compared with 45 per cent for Toyota. Honda, the country's number three carmaker, produces 26 per cent of its vehicles domestically.